fign; but the fatisfaction was not fo general in England. 1711. When Sutton arrived at Whitehall, with an account of the duke of Marlborough's paffing the French lines, it gave his friends indeed the greater joy, becaufe his enemies had given out, that nothing would be done this year in Flanders, because, as they pretended, he was refolved no affair should fucceed under the present adminiftration, if he could help it. But, his enemies, being disappointed, endeavoured to leffen the glory of the action, pretending, he had only removed his army from a plentiful to a ftarving camp. But this malicious fuggeftion was foon confuted, as well by the fequel of his fuccefs, as by the applaufe all Europe gave to his conduct; while Villars was openly reflected on, both in his own army and at Paris, Pursuant to the refolution taken in the council of war, the fiege of Bouchain was undertaken, the difficulty of which may be judged from the fituation of the place. Bouchain is a fortified town, ftanding at the confluence of the Sanfet and the Selle into the Scheld. The Sanfet parts the Upper Town from the Lower, forms an inundation between that and the Selle, and fills the ditches which surround the works between the Upper and Lower Towns. The Selle divides the Lower Town in two parts, and, between the Lower Town and the Scheld, is a horn-work, which covers two separate baftions, and which is cut in two by a ditch supplied by the Scheld. Notwithstanding these, and several other difficulties, the place was invefted the 10th of August, N. S. by thirty battalions, and twelve fquadrons, commanded by general Fagel. Marshal Villars tried to throw more men into the town by a narrow causeway (called the Cow-path) through the morass; but the duke of Marlborough took his measures so well, that he was guarded against every thing, and drove the French from that advantageous poft. He faw what the event of this fiege might be; and therefore beftirred himself with unusual application, and was more fatigued in the course of this fiege, than he had been at any time during the whole war. The trenches were vigorously carried on, and by the batteries and bombs the town was foon laid in ruins. Villars did all he could to raise the siege, but to no purpose. When he faw that could not be done, he endeavoured to furprize Doway. To that end, he fent a detachment of ten thousand men under Albergotti (the Jate governor of Doway) and thought fit to be there himfelf in person. They marched the 7th of September in the evening; The fiege of Bouchain. 1711. evening; and, about one in the morning, they were difcovered by a patrole of the confederate horse, who sent intelligence of it to count Hompefch; so that orders were immediately given to the officers in the out-pofts to be upon their guard. But, in the mean time, the enemy advanced towards the gate of St. Eloy, where they defigned to scale the wall; and several of their boats, filled with foldiers, paffed over the inundation to favour the attempt, and came so near the works, that, being challenged by the centinels, they anfwered, They were the governor's fifhermen ;' which the garrifon miftrufting, and, at the fame time, hearing fome firing from the out-pofts, they fired likewife upon the boats: fo that the enemy, finding themselves difcovered, retired immediately. Those in the inundation left their boats behind, and made what hafte they could to join their main body, which marched back, and re-paffed the Sanfet, with great precipitation, having loft a confiderable number of their men by defertion. The town Villars having failed in all his attempts to relieve Boufurrenders. chain, the garrifon, after twenty days from the opening of the trenches, capitulated, and could obtain no betters terms, than to be made prifoners of war. The garrifon, confifting at firft of fix thousand men, was reduced to less than three thousand. The governor pretended he was in a condition to have defended himself fome days longer; but the foldiers, finding Villars did not attempt to relieve the place, obliged him to capitulate. The fuccefs of this memorable fiege, fo difficult in all its circumstances, improved the bravery and refolution of the confederate troops; fo that they never expreffed so much eagerness for coming to a fair engagement with the enemy. The duke's ftratagem in paffing the lines without the lofs of a man; the cutting off the communication of the enemy with Bouchain; the manner of the duke's investing the town with an inferior army; his cafting up lines, making regular forts, raifing batteries, laying bridges over a river, making a morafs paffable, and providing for the fecurity of his convoys, against a fuperior army on the one fide, and the numerous garrifons of Condé and Valenciennes on the other, were enterprizes that fhewed the great military skill of the undertaker. As this was reckoned the most extraordinary thing in the whole history of the war, so the honour of it was acknowledged to belong entirely to the duke of Marlborough; as the blame of a miscarriage in it muft must have fallen fingly on him (f). Villars's conduct on this occafion was much cenfured, but by means of madam Maintenon (whofe favourite Villars was) it was approved by the king of France. Whilft the works and breaches of Bouchain were repairing, the duke of Marlborough sent the earl of Albemarle to the Hague, to regulate the operations for the remaining part of the campaign with the ftates; and, as he judged the enemy might be troublesome in the winter, to the conquered places near them, without the reduction of Quefnoy, to obtain their concurrence for the siege of that place. But the states, confidering how far the feafon was spent, and the difficulties which must attend fuch an enterprize in the fight of the enemy's army, especially in a country where they had deftroyed all the forage, they rejected the propofal. They agreed however, that most of their troops should be quartered in the frontier towns, not only, that they might be ready to take the field early in the fpring, but also to hinder the enemy from making any new lines during the winter, and oblige them, at the fame time, to continue their troops upon their frontiers, where they would find it very difficult to fubfift them. The duke, who had been acquainted with the negotiations that were carrying on in England, by monfieur Mefnager from the French court, and the proposals he had given in to the miniftry from his master, could not but perceive, that the states had this alfo for an inducement, to make no more fieges during the remainder of the campaign, in order to spare their troops till they faw what would be the refult of the negotiations; though they did not think fit to infert it among their other arguments for putting an end to it. The duke therefore fet the forces at work to level the approaches, fill up the breaches, and put the town of Bouchain into a posture of defence; which was not finished till about three weeks after its furrender, thro' the badness of the weather, which very much incommoded both the French and the allies, who continued incamped to fee each other drawn off to their winter quarters. As foon as Bouchain was put in a good pofture of de (f) As Villars was lampooned in France about his Ne plus ultra, and for fuffering Bouchain to be taken in his fight: fo, on the contrary, the duke of Marlborough was libelled in England by fome mercenary pens for his fucceffes. Bouchain was called fence, 1711. 1711. fence, both the armies began to feparate, having already greatly fuffered by the continual rains, and the fcarcity of forage. Affairs in This was the last service which the duke of Marlborough ever performed in the field. The allies were now in poffeffion of the Maese almost to the inlet of the Sambre, and the Scheld beyond Tournay, and of the Lys fo far as it is navigable. And befides the conquefts of Bavaria, Cologne, and other countries in Germany, they had also reduced fo much of Guelderland, as had formerly been left to Spain by the treaty of Munfter; and likewife Limburg, Brabant, Mechlin, Flanders; two thirds of Hainault, with their ftrong holds, the conqueft of which was thought almost impracticable. By the taking of Bouchain, and the progress of the confederate army on the Scarpe and the Lys, they were become mafters of two rivers, which, by the means of the Deule, and its canal, had been ferviceable to the French for many years in their continual invafions of the Spanish Netherlands, of which they were now altogether deprived. All these important conquests the allies had made during the course of this war, under the conduct of the duke of Marlborough, who having given the neceffary orders for fecuring the navigation of the Scarpe to Doway, and covering the workmen employed in fortifying several posts on that river, and on the Scheld, left the army on the 27th of October, and, after fome ftay at the Hague, landed in England ort the 17th of November, O. S. As the affair of Spain had been fo much preffed from the throne, and so much infifted on all the last seffion of parliament, and as the commons had given 1,500,000 1. for that fervice (a fum far beyond all that had been granted in any preceding feffion) it was expected matters would have been carried there in another manner than formerly. The duke of Argyle having been recalled from the fervice in Flanders (where he had acted in conftant oppofition to the duke of Marlborough) was appointed to command the English forces in Spain; and great hopes were entertained, that, by his courage, activity, and conduct, the face of affairs there would be changed for the better: but all these hopes failed. After the furrender at Brihuega, there were, as hath been related, but three English regiments left, Lepel's dragoons, with Richards's and Du Bourgay's regiments of foot, and these had almost been destroyed at the battle of Villaviciofa. However, they were in great measure compleated again by the dragoons and foot that made their efcape from their confinement. finement. But there was no money to fubfift them; and, if the Catalans, in whofe towns they were quartered, had not been fo humane as they were, they must have been ftarved. There had been no remittances from England in above fix months, till the beginning of February, when the pay-mafter received bills for thirty-two thousand pounds only, though the establishment in Spain amounted yearly to one million, one hundred thousand pounds and upwards. As this fmall fum bore no proportion to what fubfiftance was due, fo it did not fuffice to give any relief to thofe who were in want, and therefore they must have perished, had it not been for the good nature of the people of Catalonia. During the winter, general Stanhope had been endeavouring to get an exchange of prifoners; but the court of Madrid was fo averfe to it, and fo unwilling the English should obtain their liberty while the war continued, that, inftead of agreeing to it, Stanhope was removed from the city of Valladolid to a poor fisher-town in Afturia, and afterwards to Pan, the capital of Bearn in France, where he continued till all the prisoners on both fides were released. Sir John Norris came with the fleet in the beginning of March from Port-Mahon to Barcelona, and a great council of war was held at the palace, in king Charles's presence, about the fituation of affairs, and the operations of the next campaign. Soon after, major-general Whetham arrived at Barcelona, and fuperfeded Lepel in the command of the forces. He was followed by a few regiments of foot from Ireland, and two from Gibraltar, that were re-implaced by fome that came from that kingdom. The duke of Argyle was expected with great impatience, by whose presence it was hoped (fays our author *) all our wants, which were very great, would be fupplied: for no money had been returned, except the inconfiderable fum before-mentioned. Some bills indeed were drawn by a banker of London upon our English merchants; but these were protested. The duke of Argyle (who, in his way to Spain, came, the 4th of April, to the Hague, and went on his journey without vifiting the duke of Marlborough} ftaid fome time at Genoa, expecting the remittances he was promised before he left England, but none came, which made him very uneafy. However, he came away with two men of war, and landed at Barcelona the 29th of May, and had his firft audience of king Charles, as ambaffador and plenipotentiary, the next day. The duke employed all his 1711. * Manu script ac count. |